Great 'Big Freeze Tips' Hunt

Teenie_D

A nice big pot of home made soup. Economical and warming-nothing better!

ani_ka0

Best tip I have been given so far is to wear freezer bags between shoes and socks, it keeps your feet dry when walking in the snow. So if you do have to walk in the snow, you do not have wet feet all day!

Moonbeam

Our council is totally out of grit so I've used a cheap bag of dishwasher salt on the path outside my door and where I park my car just to give it some grip.

It's worked really well and a big bag can last ages.

I've also found hill-walking boots much better than wellies for grip and borrowed sledges off neighbours with older kids as the shops round here have sold out of them. (I do remember sledging on plastic bags when I was younger though).

Cardboard is also good for giving car wheels grip if you get stuck - so carry that and a wee shovel around with you in the back of your car.

creased-leach

We are all electric, so powercuts (there were two on one day last week alone) mean no heating, lights, or cooking.

If you're in a similar situation, beg/borrow a camping stove to keep nearby in case of an emergency.

Ellie83

We are avid campers and I put our warm sleeping gear, light and emergency gear in the boot of the car, just in case. We also have the camping gas stove ready to use during power cuts (haven't used it so far because power cuts have only been for a couple of hours).

Great tips on this thread!

jaydax

If there's even the slightest possibility that you may get stranded in a snow bound car take a couple of broad based candles with you. Nightlights work well. The small amount of heat from them makes all the difference and the flame cheers you up and lets rescuers know you are there. I learnt this in Canada.

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Judith_Proctor

Last year, we bought a second-hand curtain from Oxfam and hung it on a cheap rail behind the front door.

We draw it at night and whenever the weather is cold during the day.

Result? We no longer need to turn on our hall radiator, even when there's snow outside.

SMarg

Buy snow chains for your shoes - Yaktrax walkers from yaktrax.co.uk are brilliant. Decided last February not to spend the money but now the bad weather is not a one-off I invested and they work superbly. I can stride out on the snow and ice without fear of falling.

Kandipandi

Cheap cat litter works a bit like rock salt for gritting your drive/lane. (obviously unused!!)

cairndog

Put vaseline or cooking oil on your dogs paws before walkies(or slidies!)
This has really helped our dog
Also if they have very furry paws you're advised to trim it round in a paw shape so it doesn't pick up snow/ice.